Hidden Prodigy: Reborn
by Freddy Oakster
Summary: Snape decides to honor Lily's memory, and swears over her dead body that he will do everythin in his power to ensure Harry's safety. He takes a more active role in Harry's raising and steps out of the shadows, playing an important role in restoring Magical Society to its former glory. What consequences does this bring?
1. Prologue

**A/N: **_This won't be a complete rewrite. Due to specific circumstances, I have decided that I will make this its own story, instead of a straight rewrite of the original Hidden Prodigy. It will still be built around the same basic idea as Hidden Prodigy, but I will be taking it in a slightly different direction than I had originally planned once we reach a certain point in the story._

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to the franchise.

* * *

_"I will tell your story if you die. I will tell your story, to keep you alive."_ \- Laleh, Some Die Young

**Prologue: **Tragedy of 31rst October 1981

The rain fell from the sky in a heavy downpour over Godric's Hollow, as if the skies themselves were crying over the tragedy that had played out here just a few hours ago. The clock had passed midnight by now and the dawn of November 1rst was closing in, yet darkness was still weighing heavy over the little village. In a small alley to the side of the road, there echoed a low-pitched "bang", courtesy of a wizard apparating into the vicinity.

A second later, a hooded man appeared in the alley. His black robes were immediately drenched by the downpour, but he didnt' seem to pay it any mind at all. He only spared a quick glance up towards the skies before he left the alley and hurriedly walked down the street towards his destination.

The treck to the ruined building was short and already from a distance, he could see the smoke rising from the ruins of what had once been the house of the Potter Family. He shuddered. Just thinking the name left a bad taste in his mouth, but that was to be expected. He and Potter hadn't exactly been friends and if it wasn't for _her,_ he couldn't care less what happened to him and his son.

Just as he thought it, he turned around a corner and finally, the entire Potter Estate was visible. And what he saw made him almost take back his previous thoughts about leaving James and Harry Potter to their fates.

The entire outer wall of the house and been blown away and the livingroom was clearly visible through the rain. If he had to guess, he would say that Voldemort had not felt the need to just knock and unlock the door. Most of the grass was either gone or scorched, except the parts that were at the opposite side of the little garden from the wall, suggesting that it had been an Explosion Curse that did the work.

Inside the house, Severus could clearly see destroyed furniture, scorch marks and holes in the walls that were still decently intact. The damage that had been dealt spoke volumes of the two wizards who had battled it out here just a few hours ago, especially one of them.

As he walked up the path that led to the house with slow and hesistant steps, Severus felt his throat grow dry. He knew that James Potter had been a powerful wizard. Even he couldn't deny that, no matter how much it hurt to admit it. But judging by the state that the building was in, the battle had been one sided. There was just no standing up against the power of Lord Voldemort. Both the Potters, Lily in particular, had been amongst the most gifted witches and wizards from their generation, and yet it looked like this battle had been nothing but a little schuffle from Voldemort's side.

As he stepped through the destroyed wall and into the livingroom, Severus found the first evidence of death. A few feet in front of him, the body of a young man with raven black hair was lying face down. There was no sign of any physical damage, courtesy of Voldemort's Killing Curse, but if the surroundings were anything to go by, James Potter had fought back against Voldemort with all his might and still gotten outmatched.

Looking around in the room, Severus felt his chest constrict painfully. If this much damage had been dealt down here, then what were the chances that Lily was still alive? Pretty close to none. While it gave him some hope that her body was nowhere to be found down here, he knew deep down that it was a fool's hope that he held. The Lily Evans he had known and loved since childhood would never have turned her back and run if someone she cared for was threatened. That was one of the many things that made her unique in his eyes. And probably, also one of the things that had made her special in Potter's eyes, Severus admitted begrudgingly.

Taking a deep breath, Severus did his best to try and collect himself. Was he ready for this? Since there was no sign of her down here, that meant that she must have fled upstairs when Potter was killed. If he was going to find out the truth, if he was going to find _her,_ he would need to go upstairs and search for her. But was he ready for the truth? Was he ready to find her, no matter what state she was in?

No.

The answer was that he simply wasn't ready and he probably never would be. Lily had been the most important person to him his entire life. No matter what he did and no matter who else he associated with, Lily had been willing to try and overlook it and done her best to remain his friend. During their years at Hogwarts, she had displayed an almost unnatural patience with him, hoping that he would go back to being the boy she used to know. And how had he repayed her? By joining the Death Eaters and sending Voldemort after her.

But he had to know. He wasn't ready for it, but he had to know. No matter how long he waited or how much he tried to steel himself for this, he knew that he would never be ready for this. But he needed to find out what had happened to her, to get some closure on this. He couldn't just turn back and run away from the truth. Ready or not, he had to see her with his own eyes one last time. He owed her that much.

Swallowing harshly to try and fight down the lump in his throat that was threatening to strangle him alive, Severus took a deep breath and headed upstairs. The walls up here were intact and most of the furniture were untouched, as if Lily had stopped resisting Voldemort and resigned herself to her approaching death when James had fallen. The mere thought of Lily, _his _Lily, resigning herself to death was heartbreaking and for a moment, Severus couldn't move. He just stood, frozen in place as he spotted the room that no doubt had been the last place where Lily Evans had set foot during her mortal existance.

All the signs were there. A few scorch marks on the floor just outside the room, the door had been blown off its hinges and was lying on the floor just inside the room. Judging by what he could see from out in the hall, that had to be the infant's chamber. Lily had spent the last moments of her life, trying to protect her son.

Slowly, Severus made his way towards the doorway. He felt like his steps echoed throughout his head, even though they were barely audible over the sound of the downpour against the roof. Judging by the sound, there was also a hole in either the roof or the wall somewhere inside the chamber. With almost painfully slow steps, Severus stepped into the room.

And that was when he saw her. Just in front of the crib rested the body of Lily Potter, née Evans. Just like with James, her body had not been exposed to any phyiscal harm. If he didn't know any better, he could've almost guessed that she was just asleep. On some subconcious level, that made it a little easier to bare, but at the same time he also felt his heart beat harder in his chest. What if she really only was sleep? A part of him couldn't help but hope that was the case, even though his mind and his entire being was telling him that it wasn't possible. Lily Potter was dead.

He didn't know how he did it or when, but during the time he tried to come to terms with the evidence that was right in front of his eyes, Severus moved over to the crib and fell to his knees in front of the body of his former best friend. He reached out with a trembling hand and stroked it across her delicate cheek. She was so cold...

For what felt like hours, he just sat there. He didn't know when the tears started coming or when they stopped, he didn't know when he let his hand silently find hers and clench it softly, trying to immitate the reassuring squeeze he used to give her when she was nervous about going to Hogwarts back when they were kids. It all felt so far away, as if he was just watching himself through a long telescope or something. It just seemed so surreal, yet he knew in the back of his head that it was really happening.

What could he do now? Up to this point, the only thing that had kept him going had been his resolve to protect Lily, but now that resolve was gone. Lily was gone... What could he do with his life now? Was it even worth living at all?

Looking down at the dead body of the person he used to love, Severus felt how his despair grew. No, there was no reason for him to live. He had wasted his entire life by joining the Death Eaters and pushing Lily away and his actions had ended up killing the person he loved more than anything. He had practically killed Lily himself!

Why was he still here?

His wand was lying safely inside his cloak. It was easy to retrieve and he knew more than enough curses that could easily put an end to his misery. All he needed to do was to reach inside his robes and pull out that little piece of wood and mutter a single word and it would all be over. He would be able to free himself from this living hell, he would be able to see Lily again and perhaps apologize to her for his many wrong doings...

Silently, he began to reach for his wand inside his robes... but then, his gaze fell on Lily again. What would she think of him if he proceeded with this? Would she want him to do this because of her death?

He swallowed, fighting back the urge to reach for his wand. No. She wouldn't want to be the cause of his death, no matter how distant she had been towards him since they ended their official friendship. But what would she want him to do? If he could somehow speak to her and ask her what she wanted him to do for her, as a friend then what would she ask of him? For some reason as he thought about this, his gaze lifted from Lily's body, to stare at the empty crib.

Harry.

Severus had only met Harry James Potter once so far, during an meeting with the Order of the Phoenix where the Potters had been forced to bring him along because their neighbour, Bathilda Bagshot, who usually took care of Harry when they were away doing something, was down with a nasty flu and was unable to care for the boy. His first impression of the boy had been rusty at best. That blasted boy had been the reason that Lily was driven into hiding and he was proof of all the wrong doings Severus had made, that had eventually driven Lily towards James Potter and away from himself.

But now, Harry was all that was left of Lily. He might be James Potter's son, but he was also Lily Evans' son. And if it was something positive he had noticed about Harry, it was his eyes. He had Lily's eyes. Those same eyes that had entranced Severus since the first time he saw them. Despite himself, Severus had found himself staring at the boy several times during the meeting, glancing at his innocent eyes, the eyes that reminded him so much of the Lily he remembered, the one that had been his friend on equal terms and had been looking at him with care and happiness, rather than the strain, insecurity and later displeassure that she had when they came to Hogwarts.

It took a few moments for Severus to put two and two together in his mind, because he wasn't really sure if he wanted to get this resolve or not. Harry was still James Potter's son, the son of his worst bully and the person he hated over everything else. But then again... Harry was also still the last living relic of Lily Evans, the person he loved over everything else. What would Lily think of him if he just left her son to die because of a school grudge?

He cringed inwardly at the thought. No doubt Lily Evans would be turning in her grave if she knew that he just abandonned her son, Death Eater or not. Lily had died to protect Harry, wouldn't just leaving him to his fate be kind of like spitting on her sacrifice?

Clenching his hand around Lily's, Severus felt warmth return to his body and the semi-entranced feeling he had been under ever since he entered the building floated away. He had to find Harry. He had failed to protect Lily, but he still had the chance to protect what she had died to protect. There was still a chance for him to redeem himself and honor his friendship with Lily and he wouldn't make the same mistakes twice.

Slowly, he let go of Lily's dead hand and stood up, taking a deep breath to try and collect himself. He would have time to grieve later, right now finding Harry and ensure his safety took first priority.

'_Don't worry,'_ he thought as he cast one last glance at Lily. '_I'll make sure that your son is safe.'_

With that, he turned on his heels and left the room. Walking out of the room and leaving Lily's body behind felt almost as hard as it had to walk in there and see it, but at the same time it felt good to be able to leave that room behind. He had something he needed to do again, a purpose. And to fulfill that purpose, he would need to find Harry. The first step towards that was to try and figure out who could've taken him. Death Eaters were probably out of the quesiton for now. He doubted that Voldemort would've trusted anyone, except maybe Lucius and Bellatrix, enough to tell them something so important. And neither of those two were likely to come here first thing when they heard about the Dark Lord's demise.

That left only a handful of people, none of which were a direct threat to Harry. Even though the Fidelius Charm had worn off, people would still need to be told about the location by someone who had been aware of it while it was still under the charm to know where to look, because he doubted someone would just randomly walk in here and find Harry and decide to take him with them.

So, who had known of the Fidelius Charm and the Potters' location? Bathilda Bagshot knew, since she had been Harry's caretaker when his parents went to meetings with the Order. Obviously, Albus knew since he had been the one to suggest they use the charm in the first place and he thought that maybe Professor McGonagall knew as well, since she had been particularly close to the Potters. Then, there was the Marauders and the Longbottoms, both of which would most likely be first in line of both Lily and James' list of trustworthy people. Aside from those, there was always Hagrid, whom both Potters had been very fond of and Severus suspected that Professor Flitwick might have been the one to cast the charm, since he was the most skilled charms expert in the Order's ranks.

As he exited the building and felt the rain soaking through his cloak again, Severus came to a stop. All those were potential candidates to have known about the Potters' hideout and that in turn made them possible as candidates to have taken Harry away from here. However, it was unlikely that Dumbledore had agreed to share the secret between so many different people, because the more people who knew, the greater the risk that the secret was revealed.

He decided to start working with those he knew for sure had known of the hideout: Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick, the Marauders and Bathilda Bagshot. Out of those, he could definetely exclude Flitwick as the one to have taken Harry away, since he had seen said wizard in the Great Hall just shortly before he departed for Godric's Hollow himself. He couldn't completely exclude that any of the Marauders had been the one to take Harry away, but except for maybe Black, they would just have brought him to Dumbledore as fast as they could anyway, so Dumbledore was probably the best place to start.

His course of actions made up, Severus disapprated, his mind set on finding out where Dumbledore was and where he was keeping Harry. He remembered that the Headmaster had been absent from the feast that was being held in the great hall, so that meant he was most likely not at Hogwarts. But if that was the case, then where could he be?

**-HP-**

It was later than midnight and the moon had already fallen, leaving the street of Privet Drive in darkness, save for the light that was given by the lampposts. On the stone wall that was next to Number 4, a cat was sitting very stiffly and watched the house intently. It had been present the entire day, studying the inhabitants of Number 4 with unnerving intensity. Now however, it seemed to be waiting for something.

Suddenly, the light in the lamppost just outside of Privet Drive Number 4 went _out _of the lamppost and flew of towards the end of the street. The cat immediately turned its head in the direction where the light had flown off, spotting a tall silhouette walking down the street. The man was holding his hand high in the air, holding something out, into which the light that went out of the lamppost seemed to have disappeared. A second later, the light in the next lamppost followed after the other and flew into the strange device in the man's hand.

This kept up until the entire street had been covered in darkness. By then, the man had made his way down the street and come to a stop just outside of the gate to Number 4, not too far away from the cat. He was a strange man, wearing a dark blue robe covered in stars and moons, making him look like he was a dressed in a piece of the sky itself. As his eyes found the cat, sitting atop the stone wall watching him, the old man's lips were curled into a smile.

"I should've known that you would be here." he said as he nodded towards the cat. "Professor McGonagall."

The cat's eyes narrowed at being spoken to. She should've known that Dumbledore would recognize her, even in the dark. There was just no way of getting around that man. Sighing inwardly, Minerva jumped off the stone wall and transformed back to her human form. A second later, a stern, strange-looking woman with glasses was standing next to the equally strange-looking man.

"Professor Dumbledore." Minerva offered as a greeting.

Dumbledore bowed ever so slightly in response before straightening up and pulling out a strange watch with stars and moon instead of numbers, studying it intently. Minerva cast a glance at the watch, but quickly just shook her head and looked back up at Dumbledore. Even she couldn't completely understand that watch, even though Dumbledore had tried to explain it to her many times. How the man himself understood it would forever be beyond her understanding.

However, she hadn't come here to just hang around. She had come here for answers, answers that she knew Professor Dumbledore held. For a moment, she just stood there, watching as Professor Dumbledore studied his watch, then looked up towards the nightsky, then lowered his gaze back to the surface of the watch again. When it became apparent that Dumbledore wouldn't initiate a conversation, Minerva spoke up.

"Albus... are the rumors true?"

For a moment, Dumbledore didn't give any indication to have heard her, instead opting to look up towards the star filled sky again. However, just as Minerva was about to repeat her question, Dumbledore finally spoke up.

"I'm afraid they are. Both the good... and the bad."

Hearing Dumbledore's confirmation, Minerva completely froze up. She had half expected the rumors to be just that, rumors. It just sounded so incredibly unbelievable, so completely illogical.

"So he's really gone? He's really been stopped?"

Minerva inwardly cursed when she heard her voice tremble. It wasn't like her at all to be so unsure of herself, but right now everything just felt so uncertain that she couldn't quite keep her emotions in check.

"Well," Dumbledore said, "he's gone for now."

"And the boy?" Minerva kept pushing for answers, ignoring Dumbledore's cryptic answer. "Is it true what they say? That after all the people he's killed, an infant boy was the one to stop him?"

For the first time since he arrived, Dumbledore showed an emotional reaction to something Minerve had said. However, it was an emotion she had not expected: annoyance.

"Please Minerva," Dumbledore said with a slight hint of exasperration in his tone, "why can't you just speak of him by name? I've never had any problems calling him by his rightful name: Voldemort."

Hearing the name of the acknowledged strongest dark wizard of all times, Minerva flinched. Even though Voldemort was supposedly gone now, she still didn't feel too comfortable hearing or speaking his name. There weren't many things that Minerva McGonagall feared, but Voldemort was definetly one of them and like for so many other wizards and witches (practically the entire Magical World), the name alone was enough to make her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"That may be, but that's you. You're different from the rest of us." she said to her defense.

Dumbledore just sighed in slight disappointment. Minerva knew all too well that he didn't like being singled out as someone special, but in this case he only had himself to blame. He was someone special, someone extraordinary compared to most of them. The most powerful wizard since the Founders of Hogwarts themselves and the strongest since his own generation. Lord Voldemort was the only one who could even consider challenging Dumbledore to a duel and expect to come out victorious.

"Well, as far as I know, and I admit I might still be wrong, the rumors are true down to the slightest detail." Dumbledore answered nonchalantly.

Minerva sighed in shock. So it really was true. Lord Voldemort had finally fallen at the hands of an infant boy, Harry Potter.

"I can't believe it..." Minerva whispered in shock, too stunned to think straight. The implications of what Dumbledore had just told her were overwhelming, even if it were just a few words. If all rumors were indeed true, that meant Minerva had lost some of the best friends she had gotten to know since her family was killed. At the same time, the world had finally been freed from the horrors and darkness that was Lord Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard of all times.

For a moment, none of them let out even the slightest of sounds. Dumbledore opted to keep studying the nightsky, still looking for... whatever it was he was looking for. Minerva didn't really care. She was too lost in thought, too stunned to even completely register what was going on around her. Lily and James Potter were dead, and their son Harry had become the savior of the wizarding world. It all just sounded too bizarre for her to really comprehend.

However, both Minerva and Dumbledore were brought out of their thoughts by an all too familiar sound that caused both of them to jump in surprise. Someone apparated to the end of the street, causing a loud bang to echo throughout the blockby the rushing air that was forced away from the space it had occupied just a moment ago by the sudden appearence of the stranger. Acting on instinct, Minerva had her wand in her hand within a second and had it aimed towards the dark silhouette.

Dumbledore didn't reach for his wand, but his light and carefree demeanor was gone in an instant and his face hardened into that of an experienced warrior, ready to draw his own weapon at the least indication that violence would follow. His eyes lost their happy twinkle and became cold as ice as they focused on the newcomer, who by now had spotted them and began moving down the street.

"Who's there? Show your us your face!" Minerva called with a steady voice, slowly pulling back her wand in case she would need to use it quickly.

The stranger slowed his steps and pulled out his own wand, Minerva's breath caught in her throat and she was just about to cast her curse before the stranger could draw his wand, when Dumbledore raised his hand and made a lowering motion. Minerva cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the headmaster, taking in his relaxed and relieved look, and then hesistantly lowered her wand.

"**Lumos**_!_" the stranger spoke up, causing the tip of his wand to lit up like a torch so that he could show them his face, as per Minerva's request.

Hearing the voice of the stranger, Minerva felt herself relax a little more. She recognized that voice and sure enough, when the wand lit up to show off the stranger's face, she could easily make out the face of her former student and current colleague, Severus Snape. He didn't look happy, but Minerva didn't think much of it. After all, he never looked happy.

"Ah Severus, what brings you to this part of Britain?" Dumbledore asked casually, now much more relaxed and the twinkle back in his eyes.

In Minerva's opinion, her headmaster was a little too quick to trust that this really was Severus Snape, considering that just yesterday, a war was still being raged where Polyjuice Potion was a common element for espionage and sneak attacks, but then again she felt pretty certain that Dumbledore would be able to tell if this really was Severus or not.

"I could ask you the same question." Severus replied coldly. "It wouldn't be because Harry's relatives happen to live in the house you're standing by?"

The venom and coldness of Severus voice caused Minerva to shiver slightly and she immediately tensed up. Severus was never one for social interraction, but his voice was usually very even and emotionless, not cold or threatening like it was now. However, something else also registered in her mind, causing her to remember why she too had chosen to come here of all places to wait for Dumbledore.

"I think the mere fact that I'm here answers that question pretty nicely." Dumbledore commented tiredly.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Severus let out an angry growl and grit his teeth to show just how much he disapproved of Dumbledore's being here, and the reason for it.

"You can't seriously be thinking about leaving Harry with Petunia!? Do you know how much Petunia hated magic? Or how much she hated _Lily_?!" Severus growled, though he still tried to be as quiet as possible as to not wake up anyone.

" For once, I agree with Severus." Minerva added her point of view. "I've been watching them for the entire day! They're the worst kind of muggles imagineable! They really are..."

"... the only family he has left." Dumbledore said with finality in his voice. He usually didn't get annoyed when people gave him their opinion, but enough was enough. Minerva heard the underlying tone of warning in his voice, leaving no room for arguments. Reluctantly, Minerva began to back down. Maybe Dumbledore knew something about this that she didn't? But then, why wouldn't he just tell her?

Both Minerva and Severus opened their mouths at the same time to try and get some answers out of Dumbledore, but they were interrupted by a terrible noise coming from somewhere above. Looking up in confusion, they spotted a sphere of white light that grew bigger by the second, soon revealing a flying motorcycle coming down towards them. Once more, Minerva's hand twitched towards her wand but just like before, Dumbledore raised his hand in a calming gesture, signaling that he did not think that the man, or woman, riding the flying vehicle meant any harm.

The three Hogwarts Professors watched as the vehicle landed clumsily on the ground and slowed to a stop in front of them. The man riding the motorcycle had a huge build and was easily three times the size of a normal human being, giving Minerva a pretty good hint as to who the man was. It also calmed her nerves tremendously and made her relax, as the man question could not be impersonated by any means she knew of, since he was a half giant.

"Good evening, Hagrid. I trust everything went well?" Dumbledore greeted the newcomer.

"Aye sir! The little one fell 'sleep just as we flew over Bristol!" Hagrid offered as a greeting, while nodding towards the other two Professors present.

Minerva nodded in greeting, but didn't say anything, while Severus just scowled towards the man who had brought Harry to Privet Drive. While neither of them held anything against Hagrid, he was just following Dumbedore's orders after all, they still felt like leaving Harry with the Dursleys was a really, REALLY bad idea.

The half-giant closed the distance between himself and the Professor trio before carefully and gently handing Harry over to Professor Dumbledore. Minerva anxiously stared at the little bundle in the headmaster's arms, almost as if she expected it to do something spectacular without warning, like lighting up in some strange color or set off a bunch of Doctor Filibuster's Fireworks. But nothing strange happened, nothing out of the ordinary. If she hadn't known it beforehand, she would've never guessed that this was the boy that had brought down Voldemort.

"C-can I... Can I say g'bye to 'im?" Hagrid hiccuped as Professor Dumbledore turned towards the Dursleys house and walked over towards their doorstep.

Dumbledore didn't answer right away, instead putting unnescesarily much focus on placing Harry on the Dursleys doorstep, before standing back up turned o Hagrid, who had begun to sniffle and shake uncontrollably.

"There, there Hagrid. This isn't a farewell, after all. Harry will be back with us before we know it." he said, though his trademark twinkle was gone form his eyes.

He wasn't really happy about leaving Harry with the Dursleys either, Minerva realized as she looked into Dumbledore's empty eyes. He knew what the Dursleys were like, and he didn't want to subject Harry to that any more than Minerva herself or Severus did, but he still did it. Did he know something about Harry? Something that the rest of them didn't? Well, he had to, or he wouldn't leave Harry here against his will.

"Well, that takes care of that. Guess there's nothing left for us here to do, we might as well go join in the partying." Dumbledore said, though any enthusiasm was gone from his voice.

Minerva cast one last look at the bundle on the doorstep that was Harry, before she took a deep breath and turned away. Hagrid soon followed suit, not being able to stand the sadness he was feeling over having to leave Harry with muggles. Severus however, didn't seem quite satisfied yet.

"Oh no, you don't!" he growled at Dumbledore who stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at his Potion's Master. "You've got a lot more to explain to me before you'll be going to any parties!"

For a moment, the tension from before rose into the air and Minerva could practically feel the aura radiating off the two wizards as they stared each other down. While she was not particularly fond of Severus Snape, she couldn't deny that he was a skilled wizard, probably one of the best ones from his generation, or he wouldn't have survived the war as far as he did. Despite that, she felt almost certain that Dumbledore would refuse his demand, but to her suprise the headmaster just let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"I guess you're right, Severus. Meet me in my office in 10 minutes." he said with a tired voice, suddenly appearing at least 20 years older, before he turned towards Minerva. "You're welcome to join us too if you so wish, Minerva."

Without waiting for an answer, the legendary wizard disapparated without warning. As the signature bang echoed across the street when the air rushed back into the spot that Dumbledore had occupied only moments ago, Minerva look up just in time to see Severus follow his headmaster barely a heartbeat later. It couldn't be more obvious that he wanted answers to whatever questions he had, and Minerva couldn't really blame him. She was quite curious to know the answers as to why Dumbledore would leave Harry with his muggle relatives.

Looking over towards Hagrid, just to make sure that he got away in time, she watched as he shook his head, probably to clear his thoughts in preparation for the journey ahead of him, before he kicked the motorcycle to life and hurriedly lifted off the ground. As soon as he was out of sight, Minerva cast one last look around he street to make sure that everything was as it was supposed to be, before she too disapparated.

**-HP-**

To say that the Dursleys were unhappy to find the bundle containing their nephew the following morning would be a close contender for the yet-to-be-invented understatement of the century-award. The high-pitched shriek of horror that echoed across the streets of Privet Drive when Petunia Dursley opened the door to check if the Milk Carriage had been there yet would be the topic of many conversations in the local area for a long time to come. People speculated why the boy had been left with the Dursleys and why Petunia had reacted so badly to finding him on their doorstep.

While this was happening, a rift had opened up within the boundaries of the Dursley Household. Vernon Dursley had not been happy at all when Petunia's "Freak Sister" died and left their nephew with them, ruining his view on himself as "perfectly normal". Petunia on the other hand had been horrified, not by the fact that she had to care for her nephew but rather because her sister had just been murdered in cold blood, something that Vernon viewed as downright betrayal.

"I thought you promised that we would NEVER be disturbed by those freaks again if we married!" he roared at his terrified wife, his face purple with rage.

"I-I..." Petunia stuttered in fear and shock.

She honestly didn't know what to think or feel. While she had shared Vernon's despise of magic (heck, she was the only reason he even knew about it), she had never wished for her sister to die. True, they hadn't really gotten along since Lily got accepted into Hogwarts, but she was still her sister. The thought of someone murdering her little sister in cold blood unnerved Petunia greatly.

As time went on, the situation at Privet Drive Number 4 steadily grew worse with every day that past. Vernon's bitterness about the whole idea of having to care for a "freak child", regardless of the boy's connection to his wife, grew in strength, while for Petunia it went in the opposite direction. She hadn't initially been too keen to take care of the boy either and had originally wanted to owl Professor Dumbledore and ask that he arrange for different living arrangements for the boy, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

She didn't know why that was, but she felt a strange connection to the boy somehow. Maybe it was because he was her only living connection to her deceased sister?

'_It must be his eyes.'_ Petunia thought as she absentmindedly studied the households two baby boys one evening after having finished cleaning the house and while she was waiting for Vernon to get home from work.

They were currently seated in the living room, with Petunia relaxing in the sofa with a cup of tea while the two boys were crawling around at the floor, minding their own business. Dudley was currently chewing on his favourite plush toy, occasionally taking it out of his mouth and waving it around in the air and laugh uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Harry opted for a more calmer behavior, allowing his emerald green eyes to travel around the room and take in every single detail in it. As she studied her nephew, Petunia couldn't help but feel a little creeped out at how much his behavior reminded her of Lily when she was young. She could almost swear she could see the gears turning in the brain behind the young boy's eyes, and felt herself shift uncomfortably as his eyes swept over her, convinced she saw a shadow of her deceased sister watching her from behind her son's eyes.

'_I'm going paranoid.' _she thought as she shook her head to clear it of any recollection of Lily. Her sister was gone and there was no way she could be watching her through Harry. Given, she was a witch and was probably capable of a lot more than Petunia wanted to imagine, but she felt pretty certain that her younger sibling would not haunt her from the afterlife, no matter how rusty their relationship had become after she received that acceptance letter to that bloody school of hers.

Sighing to herself, Petunia lifted her cup to her mouth to take a zip of her tea as she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing as someone entered the house. She tensed as she heard her husband's call from the entrance hall and stiffly answered him that she was in the living room.

Things had been tense between them ever since Harry had shown up on their doorstep. Having a wizard child living under his roof had brought out a very dark side of Vernon and while Petunia knew she was partly to blame for provoking this by trying to protect the boy, she felt obliged to at least make sure that Harry was treated decently. Freak or not, Harry was their family, just like Lily had never stopped being her sister just because she was a freak. Somewhere deep down, Petunia had always felt a little regret over distancing herself from Lily. It really wasn't her fault that she was a witch and Petunia was not, just like it wasn't Harry's fault that his parents had died and he had been left at their doorstep. It wasn't like he had crawled his way from wherever Lily and James had lived to Privet Drive by himself.

Vernon however, didn't see it that way and truth to be told, though shamefully admitted, Petunia was surprised she was even considering taking care of Harry. If someone had asked her to do it without mentioning that his parents had died, she would admit she would've probably spit them in the face and told them to leave her alone. It was just... Lily's death had affected her worse than she would've ever thought it would.

"Petunia! Where's the whiskey?! I need something to calm down a bit!" Vernon bellowed harshly from the kitchen and Petunia noted bitterly that he didn't even call her "darling" anymore.

"Second cupboard to the right from the stove!" Petunia reminded him reluctantly.

Her ungrateful husband grunted something incoherrable in reply. Petunia rolled her eyes and tried to ignore him. She had found that ignoring her husband when he was in a foul mood made it all the lot easier to bear through. On second thought, maybe helping him find the whiskey wasn't a very good idea, but denying she knew where it was would only have resulted in yet another argument.

A few more peaceful minutes passed before Vernon joined his family in the living room, taking a seat next to Petunia. Even though his current glass of whiskey seemed to be only half empty, the stench of his breath hinted that he had taken down more than just one glass prior to joining his family, causing Petunia to wrinkle her nose in disgust. While Vernon wasn't normally alcoholic in any way, he tended to drink more when he felt pressured or under a lot of stress. For not the first time since Harry had arrived at Privet Drive, Petunia wondered if maybe Lily had been right when she had said that Vernon wasn't good enough to be her husband.

* * *

**A/N: **_So there's the prologue. What did you think? Good? Bad? Let me know in a review! _


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_Hello my friends! It's been far too long. I've been tied up with real life and some personal struggles, but I'll spare you the boring details. I finally got down to putting the finishing touches to this chapter. I want to promise you that the wait for the next chapter won't be nearly as long as it was between the Prologue and this chapter, but it seems that whenever I do promise regular updates, something happens in my life that keeps me from writing._

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter. Sad? Yes. Surprise? No.

* * *

_"So lonely before, I finally found~, what I've been looking for." - _Lucas Grabeel, What I've been looking for

**Chapter One**: Diagon Alley

"Happy birthday!"

Harry sat up in his bed with a start, just as the lights were switched on and his aunt and cousin entered the room. For a moment, he felt disorientated as to where he was, the images from the dream he had been dreaming still fresh in his mind, but it didn't take him long to re-orientate himself. The blurry images of an empty white space and silhouettes wearing all-covering black cloaks soon gave way to the present, as his aunt approached him with a small birthday cake in her hands.

Grinning to himself as he recalled what day today was, Harry sat up in his bed and reached for his glasses, calling them to himself from the bedside table with a small burst of "accidental" magic. He heard his aunt's sharp intake of breath at the obvious display of magic, but she didn't say anything, probably because it was his birthday and she didn't want to ruin the mood. When his magic had begun to reveal itself 5 years ago, Petunia had been insistant that he didn't use it knowingly in front of Dudley, since his cousin tended to become nervous when Harry did "freakish things".

However, Dudley didn't seem to mind at all as he went over and placed the small giftbox wrapped in paper that he had brought in Harry's lap. The two cousins shared a look, before the Dudley flashed Harry a brief grin and rolled his eyes in the direction of his mother, showing that he too had picked up on Petunia's obvious dislike of the magic Harry had performed. Truth was, Dudley didn't really mind Harry using magic around him anymore, but neither of them had bothered to tell Petunia that they had come clean about the issue.

"Come on, Harry! Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Petunia said as she leant down so the birthday cake was on level with Harry's face.

Feeling his heart swell with happiness, Harry took a deep breath and blew at the candles with all his might. He noticed with satisfaction that he was able to blow out all the candles in one fell sweep this year, something he had failed to do last year. Closing his eyes, he did as his aunt had encouraged him and made a wish. He repeated he wish over and over in his head, silently hoping that this year it would come true. However, his thoughts were interrupted by his cousin's impatient voice.

"Aww, come one! Are you gonna' open that thing or not?!" he exclaimed, pointing at the giftbox in Harry's lap.

Harry sighed at his cousin's behavior, but couldn't help but smile. It had been almost an entire year since he had seen his cousin, but Dudley sure hadn't changed one bit. He was still as impatient as ever. Grinning mischievously, Harry grabbed the giftbox and lifted it slightly.

"Patience is a virtue, Dudley." he said, fingering the giftbox teasingly but refrained from opening it, knowing that it would kill his cousin seeing the giftbox being ignored like that.

And his cousin didn't disappoint him.

"Whatever! Just open the damn thing, or I will open it for you!" he growled, reaching out with his hand to try and grab the giftbox from Harry.

His hand was however slapped away by Petunia, who promptly scolded her son for his rude behavior and told her son that Harry could take as much time as he wanted to open his gift. It was _his _gift, after all. While Petunia scolded her son however, Harry felt his own curiousity get the better of him. Carefully removing the wrapping paper, Harry found a small rectangular box inside. Feeling his curiousity spike at this, Harry opened the box and looked inside.

The box contained a locket made of cheap nickel. Frowning, he reached inside and picked the locket up. No offense to Petunia or anything, but he didn't think he had a lot of happy memories from neither Privet Drive, nor Cokeworth, which was where he and his aunt had moved after Petunia and Vernon separated. Turning the locket over his in hand in slight confusion, he shrugged and pushed the little button that allowed it to open up.

Inside the locket, a picture of two young women had been placed. It wasn't a wizarding photo as the pictures didn't move, but Harry instantly recognized the two people in the photo. One of them was wearing a flowing white Bride's Dress, against which her auburn hair stood out greatly. Her soft lips were drawn out in a happy smile and her emerald green eyes practically sparkled as she held her arms around her older sister, who was looking off to the side and looked like she was desperately searching for a way to escape her sister's embrace.

"It was taken during Lily's and James' wedding. Lily insisted that Vernon should take a photo of us together, as we rarely saw each other. " Petunia said, her cheeks having obtained a slight shade of pink as she looked at the picture from above Harry's shoulder, obviously a little embarrassed about her own antics in the photo. "I didn't know what to give you, now that you're going back to the Magical World, but I was looking through an old photo album the other day and thought you might like this."

For a moment, Harry just stared at the picture of his mother and aunt. He didn't know quite what to say. His mind barely registered Dudley's complaint about "boring" and that his cousin left the room, but he didn't react to it. They looked so different in the photo, his mother and aunt. He had seen photo's of his mother before, but he had never seen the two sisters together in the same picture before. The contrast they made was... astounding.

However, as soon as the initial shock wore off he felt his heart swell with happiness, and he wasted no time in closing the locket and hanging it around his neck, before turning to his aunt with a smile.

"Thanks! I will always have it with me!"

Petunia let out a sigh of relief as he said those words. Like always, she had been worried about what her nephew would think about the gift she gave him. Ever since her divorce from Vernon, their economy had been hard pressed and if it hadn't been for her inheriting her parents' estate in Cokeworth... well, she didn't dare think about how things would've turned out.

"I'm glad you like it." she said as she got up and picked up the cake. "I'll go downstairs and prepare breakfast. I think Snape said he would drop by to pick you up in about an hour so I would get dressed as soon as I could if I were you."

Hearing that Snape would be here to pick him up soon, Harry felt excitement rise in his chest as he got up and got ready for the day. This was _the _day after all, the day when he would finally get to return to the Magical World!

**-HP-**

While Harry was celebrating his birthday and preparing for his trip to Diagon Alley, pandemonium was breaking lose in another house in another part of Great Britain. Unlike the Evans Residence, which was located in central Cokeworth, this house was located in the countryside, on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole. The mother of the household had just caught her twin sons, Fred and George, trying to sneak dungbombs into their older brother Percy's room, and was currently giving the two pranksters a piece of her mind. Her frustrated yells could be heard all the way up to the first floor, where a young girl was sitting alone in her room.

She was the youngest out of 7 children, and the first girl to be born into their family for several generations. However, to her that was just the problem. She was the last born, which meant that she would be left alone once the school year started. All her brothers would be leaving her behind, even Ron, who was just a year older than her.

A single tear rolled down Ginny Weasley's cheek as she thought about it. While Ron was probably the most annoying out of her 6 brothers, that didn't mean she wanted him to disappear. She had told him too many times to count that she wished he would just leave her alone, but she had never meant it like this, not for an entire year. What made things even worse; it appeared as if he was just glad to be rid of her and finally get out of their home and "do something with his life". Ever since his Hogwarts letter had arrived, he had barely payed any attention to her at all.

As the shouting downstairs fell silent, Ginny sighed and fell back against her bed covers, fixing her gaze on a spot in the ceiling. She didn't know how long she was lying there, but eventually there was a knock on the door. Ginny didn't bother answering. Whoever was at the door would enter regardless if she told them to stay out or to come in. And sure enough, just a few seconds later the door creaked open to reveal her mother.

"Ginny dear, are you still asleep?" she whispered softly, as if she was afraid of disturbing her.

Ginny had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "How would I be able to stay asleep after _that_?"

Her mother sighed and closed the door as she entered her room. Ginny still didn't move from her bed and kept her gaze firmly fixed on the spot in the ceiling. She didn't like it when people took pity on her, but telling her mother to leave her alone would just spark another argument. And deep down, Ginny knew that her mother's worries were justified. While she was still very much a child, she wasn't stupid. Skipping meals and locking herself up in her room was not healthy, neither physically nor mentally.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." Her mother said as she went over to the basket in the corner to collect her dirty clothes.

Even though her mother was picking out what needed to be cleaned from Ginny's used clothes, Ginny could still feel her eyes constantly wandering over to her still form on top of her bed sheets. After a few minutes, Ginny couldn't take it anymore and sat up in her bed, though she still refused to look her mother in the eye.

"Mum, why are you really here?" she asked, trying her best not to sound rude or annoyed.

Dropping all pretense and allowing the pile of clothes she had gathered to fall to the floor, Molly Weasley went over and sat down next to her daughter on the bed. She bent forward to try and seek eye contact with the young girl, but Ginny stubbornly looked away. Sighing in defeat, Molly put a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"I'm worried about you, Ginny. We all are. You haven't been eating properly and I know you've been having trouble sleeping as well." she said with a surprisingly soft voice.

Oh, so that was why she hadn't wanted to disturb her if she was sleeping. And truth to be told, Ginny really had been having trouble sleeping properly lately. Just last night, she had been lying awake for hours on end, twisting and turning in her bed, unable to relax enough to fall asleep. Thinking about it, Ginny felt her eyes sting slightly as she was reminded of the nightmare she had been having of being left alone at home and not finding anyone in any of the rooms of The Burrow. She had been running around their garden and searched for anyone, any _sign_ that she wasn't alone but no matter how much she screamed and called for her brothers or her parents, she had gotten no response.

Seeing that she was finally getting a reaction out of her daughter, Molly decided to push on. She reached out and pulled Ginny into a hug. While the girl didn't return the gesture, she didn't resist it either and in Ginny's case, that was as good as acceptance.

"I know this is hard for you Ginny, probably even harder than it was for me to see Gideon and Fabian leave me behind, but you're taking this too far. I know you love your brothers, but it's not like they are gone forever. They will be back in less than a year." she said, slowly stroking her daughter's long red hair.

"You're not really helping..." Ginny mumbled into her mother's shoulder.

Molly just sighed and continued stroking Ginny's hair. She knew that she had never been very good with words, her husband was usually the one who had to soothe their children when they were upset about something. Not knowing what else to say, she tried to come up with something else, anything, that might help cheer Ginny up, at least for the day. They would be going to Diagon Alley today, but if Ginny stayed like this she wouldn't be able to come with them and even though she knew her daughter was very intelligent and independant, she didn't feel comfortable about leaving her alone in this state.

"Would you like me to read something for you?" she asked as she spotted a certain book that was lying on Ginny's bedside table.

Although she couldn't see it, she could feel Ginny nodding her accetance against her shoulder. Carefully releasing her daughter from her grip, Molly reached over and grabbed the book. She didn't even ask what story Ginny wanted to hear from the book. When it came to her daughter, there was only one story that was good enough that she would even consider paying attention to.

"The boy who lived..." Molly began as she read the title of the story she was about to read.

While her mother was reading her favourite story, Ginny took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall and tried to relax. She felt a little bit better now. Listening to this story always cheered her up somewhat. It was a truly fascinating story, about an infant boy who brought about the demise of a Dark Lord that haunted the lands, but what was the most fascinating about it to Ginny was that it was, supposedly, a true story.

The Dark Lord from the story was the same one that had terrorized the Wizarding World just prior to Ginny's birth, Lord Voldemort. Even to this day, people still feared to speak his true name, instead opting to call him "He-who-must-not-be-named" or "You-know-who". Ginny's family was no different. Her parents, as well as Bill, Charlie and Percy, had all been alive and were old enough to remember the terror Voldemort's mere existance had caused at the time of his reign.

To Ginny, the story was both a captivating fairy tale and a mystery that had yet to be solved. She had been 5 years old when she had first heard it, and ever since she had been fascinated by the mere thought that an infant boy had been what stopped a wizard that was so powerful that even the famed Albus Dumbledore had feared a direct challenge from him. If not even Dumbledore had been able to stop him, then how had an infant with no specific magical abilities been able to do it?

"..._and the Dark Lord turned his wand on the infant Harry Potter_..." her mother's voice broke into her thoughts.

As they closed in on the best part, Ginny strained her ears and turned her attention back to her mother. This was where it all began, and where it all ended. The mystery that no one had been able to solve. Since all eye witnesses had been killed in the attack, no one knew for sure what had happened at this point, except that when it was all over, all that was left was an infant boy with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, sleeping in the ruins of his home.

"_He came through for us in our time of need and if fate wills it, he will do so again. Because if fate wills it, even the most fragile of creatures can save the world, just like it happened for Harry Potter, the boy who lived." _her mother finished as she closed the book.

Ginny sighed contently as she felt herself relax completely for the first time in days. No matter how sad or angry she felt, that story always managed to soothe her, if only somewhat. And right now, she would take whatever comfort she could get. She knew she was being childish about this whole issue with her brothers leaving her behind, but she was after all a child.

"Thanks mum." she said sincerely. "I feel a little better now."

That drew a slight smile from Molly Weasley's lips. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, I would appreciate it if you would go downstairs and eat something before we leave for Diagon Alley. You won't be able to do any shopping on an empty stomach."

Ginny frowned. Diagon Alley? That was today? She must've really been depressed to have lost her grip on time like that. In her mind, it should still be two days until they were supposed to go. However, this new knowledge served to cheer her up a little more. While it was also a painful reminder that all her brothers would indeed be leaving soon, she knew that visiting Diagon Alley was always fun. There were always so many things to look at and if she behaved, her dad usually awarded her with an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor.

"Okay, I'll be down in a sec." she told her mum and moved to get out of bed.

Her mother smiled at seeing her daughter in better spirits again, before she picked up the dirty clothes she had gathered earlier and left. While Ginny prepared herself for the day, the story she had just been told kept running through her mind, like it had so many times before. The boy who lived... now that she thought about it, he should be old enough to start at Hogwarts this year. She had worked out that "Harry Potter" should be about the same age as Ron, so since Ron was going to start Hogwarts this year, so should Harry.

Ginny felt her heart skip a beat as a thought occured to her. If he was going to start Hogwarts this year, then that would mean he would need to get his supplies, which in turn meant that he would be going to Diagon Alley one of these days! It was a longshot but... a girl was allowed to dream, right? With that thought in mind, Ginny hurried to clean herself up before she went down to get something to eat. Suddenly, a trip to Diagon Alley had become that much more attractive for her.

**-HP-**

Harry felt his heartbeat pick up as he grabbed and handful of Floo Powder from the bowl Severus offered him and turned towards the fireplace. After "Uncle Sev" had picked him up at his house, the wizard had told him that they would be travelling by Floo Powder to the Leaky Cauldron, and from there venture into Diagon Alley. However, since Harry's House wasn't connected to the Floo Network (it was a _muggle _home after all), they had to use Severus' fireplace at Spinner's End, which was just down the street from where Harry and Petunia lived.

The walk here had been pretty quiet, but that was to be expected. For as long as Harry had known him, Severus had always been a very withdrawn and stoic person, rarely speaking unless he had to or felt the need to. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, since Harry was usually more than happy to speak for enough for both of them, but today he had other things on his mind.

"Remember what I told you, Harry." Severus said as Harry threw the powder into the fireplace, causing the flames in there to turn green. "Don't reveal your identity to anyone, unless I am there with you."

Harry stopped, just as he was about to step into the flames. His mind still couldn't quite grasp the fact that he was, supposedly, a celebrity in the wizarding world. He had been told the story many times, but it all just felt so surreal to him, as if it had been part of someone else's life. Regardless, he was not stupid. He had seen on TV how some people behaved around celebrities and would prefer to stay as far away from that kind of behavior as possible.

"Right." he said as he stepped into the fireplace and felt the green flames tickles at his feet. "**The Leaky Cauldron!**"

Severus watched with a heavy heart as the flames engulfed Harry and the boy disappeared. While he would never admit it out loud to anyone, not even Dumbledore, he had grown to regard the boy as somewhat of the son he never had. The fact that the boy was in fact the son of the only woman with whom he would've possibly wanted to build a family certain didn't help.

It was strange for him to feel this way about anyone, but it reminded him of the way he had felt about Lily all those years ago. He felt a certain protectiveness around them, like he would do anything to keep them safe. When he was with Harry, he felt like a completely different person. He didn't feel like the cold-blooded monster he knew that he was; he felt like just "Sev", like the boy who used to tell his best friend stories he had heard about the Magical World while they watched the clouds drift by.

_'Lily...' _he thought as he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and prepared to follow his surrogate son. '_I hope you're seeing this. Your son... I know you would've been proud of him.'_

With that, he tossed the powder into the fire and jumped in after Harry. He held his breath to keep the ash from multiple fireplaces he spun by from entering his mouth and eventually, the spinning stopped. While he stumbled out of the fireplace, Severus silently cursed Dumbledore for insisting that letting Harry use the Floo was safer than Side-Along Apparating him. No matter what the old man said, they were NOT going to use that godforsaken fireplace to get back home again!

The first thing he noticed when he stepped out of the fireplace was that the inn was unusually lively. A large crowd had gathered in the center of the inn. Severus tried to ignore all the ruckus and instead looked around to see if he could find Harry but when the boy was nowhere in sight, he felt dread overtake him. Slowly, he turned back towards the large crowd that had gathered in the center of the inn.

"Doris Crockford, Mr Potter. I can't believe I finally get to meet you!"

Severus groaned. That was all he needed to hear. Without wasting any time, he pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the ceiling. A loud "Bang!" echoed throughout the inn, silencing the crowd and causing all eyes to turn towards Severus. He slowly lowered his wand and put it back inside his robes, never taking his eyes off the stunned crowd that was now staring at him as if he was crazy.

"I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to give me my charge back." he said and waved Harry, who was now visible in the center of the crowd, over to him. The poor boy wasted no time in complying and quickly elbowed his way out of the crowd and made his way over to Severus. "Thank you. Now, get back to wasting your time."

With that, he led Harry out through the backdoor. The boy twisted uncomfortably as they passed the crowd, but thankfully nothing happened. Once they were out in the backyard, Harry turned to look up at his savior.

"Uncle Sev, I swear I didn't tell anyone..." he began, but he was silenced as Severus waved his hand to dismiss his explanation and brought out his wand again.

"It's not your fault, Harry." he tiredly as he tapped a certain brick in the brickwall with the tip of his wand. "I should've known that someone would recognize you. It's hard not to when your father was as well-known as he was and you look so much like him."

Harry frowned slightly at the tone in Severus voice. They had never discussed his father but when others, like Professor Dumbledore or Hagrid, spoke about him, they usually referred to him by his first name, James. And it was something about the way Severus spoke when he mentioned Harry's father... It sounded as if just mentioning him left a bad taste in his mouth.

However, he soon got other things to think about as the bricks in the wall began to move and shift places until they formed an archway, and Harry was treated to his first view of Diagon Alley. The mere sight of it took his breath away. People, _magical _people, moving about, completing their purchases. Signs that were showing special offers hung everywhere and the different shops had all kinds of weird products on display; cauldrons, owls, strange devices that Harry had no idea what they were for. If Severus hadn't pulled him along, Harry felt like he could've stood there for at least an hour, just taking it all in.

As it was however, they were on a schedule. While they had the entire day to complete their purchases, Severus wanted to get started as soon as possible. Harry didn't argue with him about it, he was just as eager to get started as his surrogate uncle. That didn't stop him from staring at everything they passed in fascination, however. Severus practically had to drag him away from the display window of _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, where the new _Nimbus 2000_ was being displayed for the public to see.

"I'll let you drool over old guaffles and stitches when we're done with your purchases." Severus remarked, slightly annoyed at Harry's sulky attitude at being pulled away from the Quidditch Shop.

"_Quaffles_ and _Snitches_!" Harry growled, knowing full well that his Uncle was just mocking him. It had been Severus who had first told him about the most popular Wizarding Sport in the world, so he knew exactly what the different balls were called.

Their first stop was, of course, Gringott's the Wizarding Bank. On the way there, Severus had explained that Harry had a Trust Vault at the bank, that would supply him with enough money to last him through his school years. The Goblin at the counter further explained that, being the last descendant of a very Ancient Pureblood Family, Harry had also inherited several heirlooms and a large amount of gold that was being held in the Potter Family Vault, which he would gain access to once he turned 17 years of age.

Throughout the explanation, Severus kept a very stoic and stiff face, which further added to Harry's curiosity about what the relationship had been between his father and his surrogate uncle. Since he knew that his mother had been muggleborn, this "Ancient Pureblood Family"-line could only be from his father's side and the way Severus almost grimaced at the mention of the Potter Family told him that Severus and his father hadn't been the best of friends. He stored that information away for later questioning.

"Oh, and this is from Professor Dumbledore. I'm sure you know what that means." Severus said as he handed a blank envelope to the goblin at the counter.

The goblin took it and opened it, quickly skimming through the content of the letter. Without uttering a word, he simply nodded towards Severus in recognition, letting him know that he indeed knew what the letter meant. With that, he waved a younger goblin, Griphook, over to them and told him to take Harry and Severus to Vault 687 and Vault 713.

After a fairly long cart ride, which Harry described as "funny" and Severus described as "horrible", they arrived at Vault 687, Harry's Trust Vault. As the door swung open to reveal the money left to him by his late parents, Harry couldn't help but gasp. Inside were mounds of gold coins, columns of silver and heaps of little bronze knuts. And this was just a tiny part of what the Potter Family, and by exntesion him, owned at this point, according to Griphook. However, amidst his sense of wonder at the fact that all of this was his, another thought made its way to the forefront of Harry's mind that made his mood dampen considerably.

"Pardon me for asking, Mr Griphook... but is there any way to exchange some of this for Pounds?" he asked carefully, not sure how the goblin would react to his request.

Griphook frowned. "Muggle money? What in the world would a young wizard such as yourself want muggle money for?"

Hearing this, Severus (who had been doing his best to look away from the "Pottergold" so far) turned to look at Harry with a frown. However, one look at the young boy was enough to make him smile slightly. That was such a _Lily_-ish thing to do. While Harry explained to Griphook that he was living with his muggle aunt and that their economical situation was far from the best, Severus decided to pick out enough gold for their purchases, as well as some pocket money for Harry. When they were done, the three of them headed towards Vault 713.

"What's in Vault 713?" Harry asked curiously as he watched Griphook work his way through the extreme defense mechanisms that surrounded the vault in question.

Severus shrugged and crossed his arms as he waited for Griphook to finish. "Nothing you should concern yourself with, Harry. Albus just asked me to pick something up for him while we were here. It's nothing special."

As he watched Griphook finally finish turning off all the defense mechanisms, Harry silently doubted that "nothing special" would warrant this many defense mechanisms. They had literally been standing here for 10 minutes straight while the goblin worked his magic at the traps and locks. However, he didn't comment on it. If Severus didn't want him to know, then he wouldn't tell him regardless of how much he pried for the information.

Once they were out of Gringott's, Severus immediately steered Harry towards _Flourish N' Blotts_, where they bought the nescesary books for Harry's first year education. Given Harry's habit of reading, Severus also allowed his young charge to buy two additional books to keep him company during the remaining weeks before the start of the School Year. Given the choice, Harry eventually settled for _Extented Guide for Basic Potions_ and _Simple but Unnesceary Spells_.

From there, they went on to buy Harry's more practical school supplies, such as his cauldron and the nescesary ingredients he would need for his Potions Class. While they were at the _Apothecary_, Severus also had to pull Harry away from a "funny-looking Mickey Mouse head in a bottle", which was in fact a very poisonous plant called the "Rat's Ear". It wasn't until they went to get Harry his school robes that something happened.

Just as they came up on _Madam Malkin's_, another boy was leaving the shop with his mother. Both of them had pale skin and blonde hair, and the boy appeared to be around Harry's age. The woman didn't appear to have noticed that Harry and Severus had entered the shop, as she was facing the counter and had her back turned towards the exit. The boy, who appeared to be bored out of his mind while his mother was having a casual conversation with Madam Malkin, was another matter.

"Hello." he said to Harry, not even looking at Severus. "Are you also going to Hogwarts?"

Harry, not wanting to be rude, offered him a smile and held out his hand. "Well, of course. Why else would I be carrying around all this stuff?"

As he said it, he motioned to all the bags he and Severus were carrying with them. The boy let his gaze wander over the bags slowly. Harry got the impression that he was somehow sizing the bags up. After a few seconds, he looked back up at Harry and nodded approvingly, before he took a step forward and held out his hand for Harry to shake.

"You seem all right. What family do you descend from?" he offered as a greeting.

Harry frowned. What kind of a greeting was that supposed to be? If he had thought the boy weird, not to mention a little rude, to begin with, he definetely did so now.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not taking the hand.

The boy raised an eyebrow, as if he thought _Harry_ was the weird one.

"Well, it's obvious that you hail from an Ancient Pureblood Family. There's no way a filthy muggle would be able to afford what you have."

Severus, who had been quiet ever since they entered the shop, took a step forward and put a steady hand on Harry's shoulder, glaring daggers at the boy in front of him. While he had never met the boy in person, there was no doubt in his mind who this was.

"If you must know, _Mr Malfoy_," he practically spat the name at the boy. "Harry descends from the Ancient House of Potter and the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, through his father's line."

As if Severus voice had been some kind of trigger, the woman that was standing by the counter, Harry guessed it was Malfoy's mother, stiffened and spun around to face them. Her already pale face somehow managed to grow even paler as her eyes locked on Severus, who was still glaring daggers at her son. The younger Malfoy in question had also turned his attention to the man behind Harry, and his eyes widened.

"Hey, I know you! You're that filthy mudblood-lover my father told me about!" he said and pointed his finger rudely at Severus.

Harry had heard enough. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Malfoy and subconciously reached out with his magic. A second later, Malfoy was tossed across the room like a raggdoll and crashed painfully into the counter, causing both Mrs Malfoy and Madam Malkin to scream in horror. Letting go of his bags, Harry was just about to take off after the blonde boy and beat some sense into him when Severus grip on his shoulder tightened, enough to hold him in place.

"That's quite enough, Harry." he said firmly. "Calm down!"

Seeing the look in his "Uncle"'s eyes, Harry reluctantly backed down, though he kept glaring daggers in the direction of the counter, where the blonde boy was crying like a baby at being tossed half way across the room. While he himself would probably be pretty hurt at being tossed around like that, Harry couldn't bring himself to care right now. To say that he was angry at Malfoy for insulting his "Uncle Sev" would be an understatement.

Severus eyed Harry for a few more seconds to make sure that he wouldn't try anything. While he was proud about Harry's ability to control his underage magic, that also made it that much harder to keep _him _contained if he was angry or upset. This had particularly been a problem during Harry's younger years, but they hadn't seen a relapse like this for almost 2 years now.

When he felt certain that Harry had reeled in his temper, Severus turned his attention back to the counter, where Mrs Malfoy had somehow managed to calm down her son. The boy in question had a large bruise on his cheek from the impact against the counter, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Narcissa. I hope your son wasn't hurt too badly." he said as he met the young woman's eyes.

He didn't need to use his legilimency to see that Narcissa also picked up on the fact that he had said "too badly". Her eyes narrowed slightly as they glared at each other. While the two of them had never really had any personal issues with each other, it was no secret that anyone who even remotely had supported Voldemort regarded Severus as a traitor of the worst kind, their dislike of him only rivalled by the distrust his new allies felt towards him, with the exception of a select few.

After a few seconds of glaring, Narcissa silently pulled out a few Galleons and gave them to Madam Malkin as excuse for the trouble and pulled her son to his feet. The young Malfoy was glaring daggers at Harry and if looks could kill, Harry felt certain that they would both be dead by now. As Narcissa led her son out of the shop, he stopped briefly just beside Harry.

"I'll see you at school." he growled, before he left.

Harry did not miss the hidden meaning behind those words, and simply nodded at the boy. Once the Malfoys were out of the shop, things proceeded smoothly. Harry got the impression that Madam Malkin wanted to get rid of them as fast as she could, because she worked through Harry's school robes at a remarkable pace and appeared to draw a sigh of relief when everything was paid and accounted for.

"I'm disappointed in you, Harry." Severus said, once they were out of the shop. "You should know better than to use your magic like that."

Keeping his gaze stubbornly fixed on the ground in front of his feet, Harry kept walking forward. Severus just sighed and put a hand on Harry's shoulder to keep him from wandering away. Reluctantly, the boy turned towards him, but still kept his gaze stubbornly fixed on the ground. As he watched and waited for Harry to say something, he was reminded that the boy was in fact just turned 11 years old. With his intelligence and general behavior, it was easy to forget that he was still a child sometimes.

"I didn't like him." he said finally.

Severus sighed and crouched beside the boy. "That doesn't mean you can go and throw him across the room like that. Some people might just write it off as accidental magic, but you and I both know that you did not do that by accident, did you?"

After hesitating for a moment, Harry shook his head. No, it hadn't been completely by accident. Harry bit his lip as he thought about it. Deep down, he knew that what he had done had been wrong. "I'm sorry."

As Harry finally looked up and met Severus gaze, he could tell that that the boy was truly sorry for what he had done. Despite the fact that Severus wanted to press the importance of controlling one's temper in situations like that, he found that he couldn't really blame Harry for getting angry at the Malfoy Heir. He had been quite irritated by his behavior himself and he knew that had that been Lily he had insulted, he would've reacted the same way, possibly with an even worse outcome since he had known quite a few nasty curses at that age already.

"How about we take a break from shopping for a while? There's an ice cream parlor not far from here and we're in no rush to finish for today." he said, hoping to lighten the mood. It was Harry's Birthday, after all.

Eager to forget about the encounter with the Malfoys, Harry nodded his head in acceptance and allowed Severus to steer him towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. The first thing that Harry noticed about the Parlor when they got closer was that it was a fairly big establishment. There was both an outdoor dining and a door that he guessed led into an indoor dining. There was a counter that faced the outdoor dining, by which Harry spotted a group of 3 equally red haired people buying ice cream as he and Severus approached the parlor.

Just as Harry and Severus entered the outdoor dining, the youngest of the three, a girl about whom Harry guessed was a few years younger than himself, turned around with a large Ice Cream Cone in her hands that Harry swore must be held together by magic. The girl giggled happily and began her treck down the rows of tables and chairs towards where a pile of bags had been left, probably the red haired family's bags by the looks of it.

"Don't run with your icea cream, Ginny!" the red haired man by the counter pressed. "If you stumble with it, your ice cream will be ruined!"

Barely had the words left his mouth before Ginny's foot got stuck under the leg of one of the tables and she lost her balance. The girl waved her arms around in a vain attempt to regain her balance, letting go of her ice cream in the process and sending it flying high into the air, straight towards where Harry and Severus had just entered the dining. Reacting on instinct, Harry held up his hand and reached out with his magic, causing the ice cream cone to slow its descent towards him until it eventually landed safely in his hand, somehow still in one piece.

Silence filled the outdoor dining as Harry stood awkwardly with the girl's Ice Cream cone firmly in his hand. Harry felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment as four pairs of eyes stared at him. Not knowing what else to do, Harry slowly walked over to the girl and held out the cone towards her.

"Uh... I think this is yours." he said awkwardly.

The girl accepted the cone and piped up a simple "Thank you!". The two of them stood awkwardly in place, neither knowing quite what to say. Despite his awkwardness, Harry took the time out to eye the girl with mild interest, his encounter with Malfoy still fresh in his mind. He doubted that Malfoy's behavior was a common greeting towards strangers in the Wizarding world, but it never hurt to be careful. Thankfully, the girl displayed none of the arrogance that the blonde boy had.

She appeared to be just as curious about him as Harry felt about her. Her large brown eyes were studying him from under her long mane of red hair. She tilted her head to the side slightly, as if she thought he would look different from another angle. Whatever she had seen from that other angle must have satisfied her, because she smiled at him when she straightened up her head again.

"I'm Ginny! Nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully.

Harry smiled and was just about to return the greeting, but something held him back. The incident at the Leaky Cauldron earlier that morning came floating back to the forefront of his mind, and brought with it a sense of hesistance. While the Ice Cream Parlor was currently empty, aside from himself, Severus and Ginny's family, he still didn't fancy more overdramatic handshaking.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself, Harry?" Severus voice sounded from just behind Harry, causing the boy to jump in surprise.

Looking up at his surrogate Uncle hesistantly, Harry found Severus nodding discreetly at him to show that these were people he could, hopefully, trust not to act up upon hearing his name. Hoping that his uncle was right, Harry turned back towards Ginny, to find that girl frowning at him in confusion. Her father and older brother (Harry assumed that the younger of the two red-haired men was her brother) had also walked up to them and were standing behind Ginny, her father with his hand on his daughter's shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Harry prayed that third time would be the charm.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

Silence followed his statement. Harry twisted uncomfortably where he stood as the red haired family stared at him with wide eyes. Ginny's eyes had grown to the size of pingpongballs, and her cheeks had attained a healthy shade of pink that highlighted the freckles that covered her nose and cheeks. After a few seconds however, Ginny's father seemed to snap out of his initial shock and offered Harry a kind smile.

"I see. Well, it's nice to meet you, Harry. My name is Arthur Weasley, and this is my son, Percy." he patted his son on the back as he introduced him. "And well, you've already met Ginny."

Hearing the casual greeting, Harry let out a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding. He felt his heart ease up at this sign of normality. After the incident at the Cauldron and his encounter with Malfoy, Harry had begun fear that he would never fit in with the wizarding world. He had been raised as a muggle, so muggle norms were what felt natural to him.

As Percy went on to introduce himself and greet Severus, whom he of course knew from Potions Class at Hogwarts, Harry found himself smiling. Aside from the fact that Percy seemed a little overly formal when talking to Severus, the Weasleys appeared to be nice people. With that thought in mind, he turned back towards Ginny to find that the girl was still staring at him.

"So uhm... Ginny? How old are you?" Harry asked, trying to start a conversation.

That seemed to finally snap the girl out of her stupor. She shook her head wildly, as if to clear her thoughts, causing her long red hair to flow around her head. Harry still felt a little bit awkward about their meeting, but he supposed that with his fame, people were bound to be at least a little shocked when they recognized him, or when he introduced himself. It wasn't like he really looked like a celebrity, he looked just like an ordinary boy. Or at least, he liked to think so.

"I'm 9 years old." Ginny said, having recovered from her stupor. "So... are you looking forward to starting Hogwarts this year?"

For a moment, Harry felt tempted to ask how she knew that he would be starting Hogwarts this year, but the moment quickly passed. He had read the story about himself and he knew that at least the original version of it stated the exact date of Voldemort's Attack on him and his parents and his own age at the time. Anyone who didn't have a pea for a brain would be able to work out what year he would start attending Hogwarts.

"I've been looking forward to it, ever since I found out about my magic." he said with a grin.

With that, he cast a look over his shoulder to see what had become of Severus. His surrogate uncle had said that they would buy ice cream and take a break, but at the moment he was busy talking to Mr Weasley and Percy. By the looks of it, it would take a while before they would be buying anything...

"Do you want to have a taste?" Ginny's voice brought his attention back to the girl in front of him.

She was smiling nervously at him and holding her own ice cream cone up in front of him. Harry felt slightly embarrassed that he had been so easily figured out by someone he had just met, but at the same time he felt touched that the girl would offer him her own ice cream.

"Really?" he asked, not sure if he dared to believe it or not.

Ginny nodded at him with a smile and breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had been nervous he would turn the offer down. The sight made Harry feel a warmness spread through his chest. This girl was so different from the other magical child he had met earlier. She was so sweet and kind, Harry got the distinct sense that they would get along just fine, once they managed to shake the awkwardness of their meeting.

Together, the two of them went over to the counter, where Florean Fortescue had placed a cup with a bunch of plastic spoons on a shelf. The shelf however, was placed a little too far up against the wall for any of them to reach, which was probably kind of the point of it; to keep children from reaching them and toss them around. However, Harry had learned long ago that if he couldn't reach it with his hands, there were other ways of getting ahold of it.

Reaching out with his magic, he grabbed the cup with the spoons and carefully brought it down from the shelf. Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and wonder as the cup hovered in mid air and slowly floated down to land in Harry's outstretched hand. After grabbing two spoons from the cup, Harry allowed it to float back up to the shelf and put it down in he exact same spot it had been standing before he had moved it.

"How did you do that?" Ginny asked in awe, looking from Harry, to the cup on the shelf, and then back again.

The question made Harry's brow furrow in thought. He didn't really know _how_ he did it. It was more instinct than anything else. The first time he had done it, it had really been by accident. He had sneezed and released a burst of accidental magic, which caused the book he had been reading to fly high into the air and hit the ceiling, before it fell back down and landed in his face.

After that, he had spent countless hours tickling his nose to try and replicate the effect. It wasn't until Severus had explained to him that he did not nescesarily _have _to sneeze that he had stopped tickling his nose. He still remembered Aunt Petunia's face when she had caught him pulling the feathers out of his quilt.

"I don't know, really. It's more instinctual than anything." he said, then paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain it. "I remember that it used to happen by accident at first, but with some training I learned how to control it. I live in a muggle area, so I couldn't have my magic accidently bursting through at any given time or I would end up causing trouble for my aunt and myself, so I worked really hard to bring it under control."

Ginny listened to his explanation with interest. Ever since she was a child, her mother had told her that it was impossible for a child to control their accidental magic but the way Harry described it, it sounded just like anyone would be able to do it with enough practice. It was simply a matter of "Practice makes perfect".

"Then... do you think I would be able to learn how to do that as well?" she asked curiously.

Harry took a moment to think about it while he took a bite out of the ice cream. Once he had swallowed, he simply shrugged.

"I don't see why not? I mean, it's not like you would know unless you tried it, right?"

From there, their conversation took off. On Ginny's insistance, Harry explained how he had learned to control his accidental magic and Harry found that he actually enjoyed talking to her about it. Before they knew it, they had finished Ginny's ice cream, but their conversation didn't let up because of that. After their initial awkwardness had worn off, they branched out and began talking about all kinds of stuff, not only about Harry's control of his accidental magic.

Harry learned that Ginny had six older brothers, one of which was the same age as him and would start Hogwarts this year, and Ginny in turn learned that Harry had grown up with only his Aunt keeping him company, aside from the occasional visit from Severus or a select few other wizards and witches. She stared at him in disbelief when he told her that he had never had a friend before.

"But I thought you said you went to a muggle school?" she asked with a frown. "Didn't you make any friends there?"

Harry just shrugged. "Not really. My aunt didn't really have the best of reputations in the neighbourhood and the fact that I was seen hanging out with Uncle Sev a few times didn't exactly help matters. Most of my classmates thought I was just creepy or weird for one or another reason, so I focused more on my studies or practicing my magic."

Ginny kept staring at him, as if she expected him to burst out laughing and tell her it was a joke. The thought that Harry Potter, _the _Harry Potter, had grown up without any friends just seemed... wrong to her. It really made the gears turn in her head. In the wizarding world, Harry Potter was a celebrity, a fairy tale hero, the most famous wizard of their generation. But in the muggle world, he had been "creepy and weird"?

It really put into perspective that there was more to him than just the fame and the stories about him. As she thought about it, Ginny realized that Harry _wasn't_ a hero. He wasn't anything like the knight in shining armor that the stories made him out to be. He was a _boy_, just like any other boy his age. He had went to school, he had tried to make friends, he ate and slept just like a normal person because he really _was_ a normal person.

"Ginny! It's time to go!" her father's voice broke into her thoughts and called the two children's attention away from each other.

They both turned their heads to find that Mr Weasley, Percy and Severus had approached them, apparently done with their conversation from earlier. Reluctantly, Ginny got up from her seat and walked over to her father and older brother, before turning around to face Harry.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Harry." she said with a smile.

Severus watched quietly as Harry said good bye to his new friend. He remembered all too well how much that one first friend meant to someone who had grown up without any friends to begin with. In that area, he and Harry were the same. They had both grown up without a true parent's love and without any friends. While he knew that Petunia had done her best to raise Harry well and eventually had come to really care for him, it wasn't the same as having a parent.

Once Harry and Ginny had said good bye and Harry had promised that he would send her a letter once he was home, Severus began to steer him towards _Ollivander's_ so he could get his wand. The two of them walked in silence, each submerged in their own thoughts, until Harry looked up towards his surrogate uncle with a grin and broke the silence.

"Uncle Sev? Do you believe in Birthday Cake wishes? You know, when you blow out all the candles and make a wish?"

Severus frowned as he looked down at the young boy who was walking beside him. While he knew about the tall story that one would get a wish fulfilled if they managed to blow out all the candles on their birthday cake in one blow, there were no scientific evidence that such a magic really existed. He knew that the Ministry had researched the subject at one point and come up blank.

"Not really. Why?" he asked, wondering what Harry was getting at.

The boy sighed contently and his grin widened until it went from ear to ear. "Because I made a wish this morning when I blew out the candles on my cake, and I think that wish was just fulfilled. I wished for a friend."

* * *

**A/N: **_So, there were some changes to this chapter compared to the original Hidden Prodigy chapter. I'd really like to know what you thought about those changes in a Review, as long as you can keep it constructive. Also, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I have taken to the habit of including a quote from a song at the beginning of each chapter that I think fits the mood of the chapter pretty well. What do you think about that? It's not very relevant, but I think it is a nice touch. _

_Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter, and then I hope to see you again next time! _


End file.
